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The Biden administration announced that it will send a guided-missile destroyer and fighter jets to help the United Arab Emirates defend itself against the growing threat from Houthis in neighboring Yemen who have recently staged high-profile attacks on Abu Dhabi.
U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr. is set to meet with leaders in the U.A.E. to talk about Washington’s growing commitment to the region. Part of the commitment includes a squadron of F-22 fighters and the USS Cole destroyer, The Washington Post reported.
He told the paper that the USS Cole has a “great radar” and the F-22s come with superior “look-down capabilities,” so the U.S. can monitor possible shipments of new weapons to the Houthis that are believed to be backed by Iran and who control large swaths of the country.
“The purpose of my visit is assurance,” McKenzie said. He said he hopes that leaders there understand that the U.S. is a “reliable partner.”
TRENDPOST: The Trends Journal has reported extensively on the Yemen War backed and supported by President Barack Obama, the Nobel Peace Prize winner. (See “U.S. FIGHTING YEMEN WAR,” “SAUDI-LED YEMEN SLAUGHTER ESCALATES,” “MURDEROUS YEMEN WAR: MILLIONS IN PERIL. WHO CARES?”S and “YEMEN CRISIS WORSENS. IT’S NO NEWS.”)
The U.S.’s assistance to the U.A.E. was on full display last month when soldiers employed a Patriot missile system to intercept two ballistic missiles that were fired by Houthis toward Abu Dhabi. The Houthis have promised revenge for recent U.A.E./Saudi massacres and warned the Emirates will “no longer be safe for investments.”
McKenzie was asked his thoughts on why he believes the Houthis are increasing the number of missile attacks and theorized that recent setbacks on the battlefield could be a reason.
“Hard to know all the Houthi reasons behind this,” he said, according to The Arab Weekly. “I think the Houthis aren’t used to losing ground in Yemen.”
The war has destabilized the region and shows no signs of easing. As we have reported, the U.A.E. pulled most of its troops out of Yemen in 2019 but the Saudis and other members of the coalition were unable to keep the Houthis at bay, especially in the oil-and gas-rich Marib province.
Abu Dhabi sent its Giants Brigades back into Yemen on 15 November and the militia immediately made gains against the Houthis.
TRENDPOST: Yemen’s civil war started in 2014, when the Houthis, who were ruling large sections of Yemen for over 1,000 years, overthrew the unelected president put in control by the Saudis. The Houthis eventually took control of Sana’a, and then seized the presidential palace.
The Saudi-backed coalition is concerned that Houthi rule in Yemen would mean rival Iran would gain a foothold at the border with Saudi Arabia.
The war, the worst humanitarian crisis on earth, has been dragging on for seven years and has been blamed for 150,000 deaths and displacing millions.
See:
- “SAUDI-LED YEMEN SLAUGHTER ESCALATES”
- “MURDEROUS YEMEN WAR: MILLIONS IN PERIL. WHO CARES?”
- “YEMEN CRISIS WORSENS. IT’S NO NEWS”
TREND FORECAST: The Trends Journal has reported extensively on the humanitarian crisis in Yemen that is playing out due to Saudi Arabia’s attack on the nation.
Thus, we maintain our forecast that the Saudi/U.S. alliance will not defeat the Houthis, and the war will rage on, killing tens of thousands of innocent people while inflicting devastating and deadly hardship across the nation.
The war will continue to be ignored by the mainstream media and the vast majority of the world will be ignorant to the human suffering the United States and Saudi Arabia have inflicted upon the nation.
So what is the U.S. going to do now that the Houthis are gaining ground in the conflict?
According to Anti-War.com:
“Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar has leaked details from a document on talks between Saudi officials and the US special envoy on their respective intentions in the Yemen War.
As the U.S. understands it, the Saudis are very keen to end the Yemen War and leave ‘with dignity.’ They are envisioning a step toward a transitional government in Yemen.”
However, they note U.S. Special Envoy Timothy Lenderking made it clear that Washington, which has sold billions of dollars of weapon to the Saudis and its allies to fight the Yemen war, is not ready for peace, saying there is “the necessity of not leaving Yemen completely,” and that they want the Saudis to remain involved in Yemen’s government.
As for the Houthis in power, Anti-War.com notes,
“The tragedy of such an end is that it could’ve avoided the war entirely, as all the Houthis ever wanted was a move toward free elections and a new government, and it was only the insistence to try to keep President Hadi in power beyond his term in office, which ended 8 years ago, that led to the Saudi-led invasion.”